The RSPCA has shared seven reasons why pigeons are unfairly maligned, highlighting their intelligence, historical significance, and surprising abilities.
Often seen scavenging on high streets or perched on ledges, pigeons are not always the most admired urban wildlife. However, the animal charity says these birds have been faithful companions to humans for generations and possess a host of remarkable attributes.
Super navigators and war heroes
Feral pigeons, descended from wild rock doves, have lived alongside humans for 5,000 years. They were domesticated for sport and message-carrying due to their amazing GPS abilities, using the sun, their sense of smell, and an inbuilt compass to read the Earth's magnetic field. Top-performing racing pigeons can fly at more than 100mph and travel up to 700 miles a day.
During the two World Wars, homing pigeons saved thousands of lives by carrying crucial messages across enemy lines, helping British troops alert the army to enemy positions or signal retreats. Despite being targeted by enemy soldiers, 32 pigeons were awarded the Dickin Medal, the highest honor for animals serving in war.
Scientific and artistic talents
Pigeons played a key role in Charles Darwin's work on evolution. He studied domestic pigeons in his garden, cross-breeding them to generate different features, which helped him gather evidence for his theory of natural selection.
With a brain the size of a cashew, pigeons can pass the 'mirror test', recognizing their own reflection—a sign of cognitive complexity shared with chimpanzees, dolphins, and elephants. Research at Keio University in Japan found they can distinguish between Cubism and Impressionism, a study that won the Ig Nobel Prize in psychology.
Parenting and medical potential
Pigeons share parenting duties equally, with both parents incubating eggs, protecting the nest, and nurturing young. Both sexes produce a high-fat, high-protein secretion to feed their chicks, called squabs, which stay in the nest until they look like adults.
In medical research, pigeons trained with food rewards could identify cancerous breast tissue and microcalcifications on mammograms with 85% accuracy. A study at University of California, Davis and the University of Iowa found that combining multiple pigeons' 'votes' boosted diagnostic accuracy to 99%, on par with trained human pathologists.
